Chapter 27 The Storm
The Storm
Davidson
I was losing precious seconds, and I couldn’t afford that.
“Do you know the code to my phone?” I yelled at Lawrence, who was hovering, eyes big and hands shaking.
“Yes.”
“Call Devon Hassel. Describe the situation. Then call Ernest. I want him to bring Hamish and as many drones as he can load.”
“But where? Where did the dragon take him?”
“No idea.”
I was ripping out my belt and toeing off my shoes. Those were the only things that could damage my sinews when I shifted, and I wouldn’t be of any use to Leo if I was incapacitated.
“Take my phone and keep it on,” Lawrence said with fresh determination. “Ernest and I share locations. He can follow it in real time as long as you have a GPS signal.”
“Lawrence…” I wanted to say something poignant about my assistant’s precious intellect but shifting took priority.
“I know. I’m brilliant. Go!”
He thrust the phone at me, and I clutched it in my now-clawed hand.
Up in the sky, the slim brown dragon dove into a slowly tumbling cumulus. He thought he could hide from me.
Except he was carrying my mate.
I took off, gaining speed, and soon I could see the silhouette of the dragon in front of me.
It sharpened and disappeared again depending on the density of the mist surrounding us, but I knew where he was.
I’d always know. I could simply sense Leo.
He was the midpoint of my entire world. And the dragon carrying him was slower than me because of the extra burden.
“If you come closer, I’ll drop him.” The accented voice thundered above the hills.
Such a stupid mistake. Fabio Altera was a shifter, and he was laughing at me. He had me fooled. He had all of us fooled. Those stupid contacts and the eye-watering cologne. It wasn’t just bad taste.
But why?
I slowed down so I wouldn’t catch up with him. I needed to think.
If he was a shifter, what use would he have of another dragon’s mate? My pregnant mate. The whole community would hunt him down. Such a crime was unforgivable.
Except he’d been hiding his nature for years. For decades maybe. There must have been a reason. The identity change Devon talked about. Something must have happened in Italy years ago.
My thoughts swirled as I followed the path the dragon had taken. He was headed north, toward the mountains. The threads of Leo’s scent were torn apart by the wind, but I knew where he was. I could feel him in front of me.
He must be terrified, my darling. But no, none of that. My Leo was tough as nails.
I had to think. Worry was useless.
From the start, Altera had known I was a shifter too. Contrary to him, I’d never tried to hide it.
Was he counting on me to give chase? Probably.
Meaning he was prepared to fight. Carrying Leo, he was slower than me, and he knew that.
So me giving chase and eventually catching up with him must be a part of his plan.
The weather had been unreasonably hot, and the Cross River National Park was closed because of wildfire hazard. The mountains would be deserted.
He knows I’m coming. He knows I won’t attack as long as he has Leo.
He can’t run away and hide because I’ll always find my mate through the bond.
Meaning if he must confront me, he will need to set Leo down.
Ideally in the mountains, where he can drop him on top of a cliff, deal with me, and then pick Leo back up.
Slowing down ever further, I looked at the tiny device in my hand. Useless if you were a dragon. Not like I could type with claws. Even if I knew Lawrence’s code… Just then, the device rang in my hand.
Not knowing what else to do, I answered with the tip of my tongue and hit speaker.
I must have looked ridiculous holding a tiny phone to my ear while flying.
“Ernest and Devon will follow you through the air,” Lawrence shouted. “Hamish is bringing the drones, but he’s slow and the weather is supposed to change. Do you know where the dragon’s going?”
“He’s taking Leo to Cross River.”
“What?”
“Cross River!”
“Not louder. You need to speak quieter. Not louder!”
Oh. The dragon voice. Poor Lawrence couldn’t have heard anything but a thundering noise. I slowed even more, turning on my back. I glided through the air noiselessly, angling my head away from the wind. “Cross River,” I said in a low voice into the device.
“Cross River National Park. Figures. They’re on their way. I’m calling Ernest’s brothers.”
“Tell them no swarming! He’ll drop Leo.”
“What?”
“No swarming if he’s holding Leo,” I said in a lower voice.
I was losing time. I felt Leo move further away from me.
“I need to go.”
“We have your location.”
“Good.”
Lawrence ended the call, saving me from needing to lick the device again.
I flipped and sped up, the mountain peaks rising in front of me.
Altera knew I was coming. He was prepared to fight. He probably even accounted for me having friends among shifters.
Hell, I needed an edge. What would be my edge?
He was sleek and fast. In a fight, he’d be nimble where I was strong. It was by no means sure I could take him one on one.
What the fuck was my edge?
Ernest, Devon, and Hamish? The drones? The Bracknell clan?
If they all descended, Altera would hold on to Leo and stay high. How long could we play that game? How long until Leo got hurt?
Did Altera have his own entourage?
But no. He was alone. He’d been hiding his true nature, meaning he was the sole dragon shifter among his own people.
He was alone and expecting me to defend my mate in a hasty attack. He counted on my fury, on me confronting him senselessly at the first opportunity.
The clouds opened but for a few wispy cirrostrati high above, and a single flier hovered in front of me. His claws were empty.
“Where’s Leo?”
“Waiting. He’s very much unsafe, though. Once the weather changes tonight, I’m afraid he might not make it.”
The atmospheric pressure was dropping. Just behind the peaks, a massive cumulonimbus had gathered, its bottom dark blue. More were forming around with ominous speed.
The dragon danced in front of me. He was long and slim, with a sharp thorn at the tip of his tail, which he surely knew how to use.
A spear. I’d heard of dragons who had spears but hadn’t seen one of them in real life until now.
They were more common in Europe and Asia.
Altera wasn’t stronger than me, but he’d be quicker.
He’d have no problem dodging me if I charged at him directly.
I can’t do what he expects me to do.
“Poor Leonard cried all the way,” he said. “He’s afraid of flying, it seems. Not really fit for a dragon mate, that boy.”
I made a slow turn, staying at the same distance from Altera.
“What are you waiting for, Sullivan? Are you going to let me have your mate?”
I turned to the right, assessing my opponent from the other side. He looked smug, hovering in the exact same spot like a damn kestrel. If I were to beat him, I had to get him closer to the ground.
“Leo’s moods are a nuisance, but he’s breedable,” Altera continued loudly. “I had plans for him before you got in the way. But at least you made him nice and ready for me. He should go into heat soon, all primed to carry dragon babies. I can’t wait to knock him up.”
He didn’t know Leo was already pregnant. Thank the universe.
Did he seriously think his primitive goading would make me do something as stupid as attacking an obviously better flier midair?
I gathered height while he waited, smirking up at me, then I swooped down, pretending to aim at him. He spread his wings and swung his sharp tail, getting ready to jab it my way. He could easily make a tear in my wing with that thing.
At the last second, I dove to the left and into a stray cumulus that had gathered at the side of the mountain. I had to avoid Altera and find Leo. Fast. Before the others arrived.
“Coward!” he bellowed after me.
I made a few useless swirls, just to confuse him.
Then I flew in and out of clouds, trying to close in on where Leo was.
Northeast from here. I knew Cross River well enough to guess where Altera might have left him.
Peaks? For a dragon, Leo would be easy to spot atop of a mountain.
The walls above the sources to Cross River were steep and mostly smooth.
Barely climbable. But there had to be shelves and cracks, and maybe even caves up there.
Had Altera hidden Leo there? Or had he left him in the valley?
On a stone in the middle of the wild river, trapped by white water?
No. After the long drought, the water levels would be low.
The cliffs by the sources were most likely. I hoped. But if I headed right there, Altera would attack immediately.
I reemerged from the mist, spotting him under me.
He hissed, pushing off as soon as he saw me, but I hid in another mass of white fluff. The clouds were growing, tumbling over themselves. The storm was gathering fast. Winds picked up, spiraling out of control.
I had to find Leo.
Reasonably sure Altera didn’t know where I was at the moment, I glided closer to the ground, letting the lowest layer of clouds cover me.
The cliffs by the river sources rose to my left, and I circled, keeping my distance as if I didn’t want to fly in there.
I didn’t see anything but gray granite and patches of silver lichen, but I felt my Leo. My mate must be in there somewhere.
A sharp whoosh was my only warning, like an arrow cutting through air.
He’s after my wings.
At the last moment, I folded them to my body, falling headfirst into the valley. Altera snarled, zooming past me. Spreading my wings and tucking my legs to my belly, I narrowly missed the treetops. Oops. Not narrowly. A tall pine scratched my foot.
Chuckling, Altera turned around and dove at me again.
Fucker. He was so sure of himself.
Sadly, he had every reason. In the air, he had me. I could ascend and find cover in the increasingly darker clouds, but what then?